The term “assault weapon” was invented by anti-gun extremists to deliberately mischaracterize certain semi-automatic firearms which look like, but do not operate like, fully-automatic machine guns. The term has been intentionally misused for more than a decade to scare the public, grab headlines, intimidate lawmakers and confuse gun owners.

In reality, the firearms criminalized under Bill Clinton’s 1994 gun ban function in exactly the same way as every other semi-automatic magazine-fed firearm, including the ones in your safe: one trigger pull fires one round and loads the next one into the chamber. They are not machine guns, even though the term “assault weapon” intentionally implies otherwise. Machine guns, which have been federally regulated since 1934 and are not affected by the 1994 law, empty the entire magazine with one trigger pull.

The only real difference between the guns on the ban list and the ones in your safe is the way that they look. The banned guns have the distinction of being cosmetically incorrect.

Anyone who believes that a bayonet lug, a pistol grip, a folding stock or a flash suppressor makes a semi-automatic firearm inherently more dangerous than one without these features is seriously misinformed. It may come as a news flash to Handgun Control, Inc., but drive-by bayonettings are not exactly an epidemic. “Assault weapons” are involved in fewer than 1% of crimes involving a firearm, and even the traditionally anti-gun CDC has admitted that the 10-year-old ban has not reduced crime.

The ban will automatically expire on September 13, 2004 unless new legislation is passed to extend it. Leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives has indicated strong opposition to any extension, which has stimulated anti-gun extremists into action. They are better funded and more sophisticated than ever before, and have now hired a slick Madison Avenue advertising firm to produce ads that scare, anger and confuse the public and intimidate legislators.

Over the past several months, a Brady Campaign affiliate, StopTheNRA.com, has taken a series of full page advertisements in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Variety, and The Nation, spewing blatant lies and vicious rhetoric about the assault weapons ban, the NRA, and other Second Amendment issues.

One ad showed a man-shaped range target wearing a policeman’s hat. In huge letters, the headline read, “12 Slugs In a Cop’s Body. As Fast as You Can Say ‘National Rifle Association.’” A smaller subheadline blared, “Police officers on your streets will soon be outgunned by fast, efficient cop-killing machines that have been banned for a decade, if the National Rifle Association gets its way.”

In reality, NRA spends millions of dollars training, supporting and protecting members of law enforcement, and lobbies for the severest punishment of gun-toting criminals. Also, the banned firearms are neither “faster” nor more “efficient” than any other semi-automatic firearms; they all still fire only one round at a time with each pull of the trigger, as they always have.

Another ad featured the names of 45 U.S. Senators who supported a ban on frivolous lawsuits against the gun industry in a “roll call of shame.” The bold headline screamed, “These U.S. Senators Want to Protect the Gun Dealer That ‘Lost’ the Assault Rifle Used by the D.C. Snipers to Murder 12 People.”

Not wanting to be left out, the Million Moms – about 2,000 strong – also mobilized for the cameras on Mother’s Day in a Washington, D.C. rally, bashing peaceable firearms owners and railing against the ban’s expiration. Between now and September, they are taking their travelling sideshow on a nationwide bus tour. One of their first stops is New Jersey – where expiration of the federal assault weapons ban will be largely irrelevant due to the statewide ban that will remain in place.

As September 13 approaches, expect to be assaulted by an unprecedented barrage of vicious and deceitful media attacks by gun ban extremists. Even though we will still have to contend with the statewide ban after September 13, we must remain vigilant in countering anti-gun lies on the subject wherever we encounter them. Make sure your pro-Second Amendment friends are up to speed on the issue, and keep the editorials and letters to the editor flowing. See www.clintongunban.com for more information.

Scott L. Bach is ANJRPC Executive Vice President and a Director of the NRA


Back to: Defending Your Rights